One-of-a-kind railbus arrives at heritage railway

A one-of-a-kind railbus is set to become an "important addition" to a heritage rail station.

It is the only survivor of six four-wheeled railbuses built by Hertfordshire's Wickham & Co and is being delivered to North Dorset Railway in Shillingstone on Tuesday.

The charity said it would eventually go into service as a 48-seater coach and restoration is planned to start in spring 2027.

North Dorset Railway, which wants to start carrying passengers later this year or early next year, said when the railbus was ready, it would initially be used as a coach, "significantly expanding passenger capacity".

The charity said the railbus, unlike the other passenger-carrying carriages, had been built "specifically for the vital work of track inspection".

"In the late 1950s, automated track inspection was in its infancy and didn't match the accuracy of manual measurement, which was time-consuming and held up normal rail operations," the charity said.

The dedicated track-recording coach went into service in early 1959.

"The on-board equipment could record track measurements on special photo-sensitive paper and display the previous record alongside, making signs of deterioration instantly apparent, and all at speeds of up to 30mph (48 kmh)," North Dorset Railway said.

It was withdrawn from service in 1991 before being stripped of its data recording equipment and converted to carry passengers, which it did for more than 20 years until 2003.

In recent years it had been in storage and is need of restoration which volunteers at North Dorset Railway hope to complete.

The railbus can be seen free of charge at the station which is open to visitors on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and most bank holidays.